Altuğ Tanrıverdi Çinici

Altuğ Tanrıverdi Çinici was born in Istanbul in 1935 and earned her degree from Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture in 1959. As one of the figures among the second generation of women architects in the Republic (since 1940), her practice history from 1960s to 2000s exemplifies a noteworthy example of wife-and-husband collaboration in Turkish architecture. She founded Çinici Architectural Office (renamed Çinici Architects in 1963) with Behruz Çinici (1932-2011), her husband, and one of the foremost architects in the country, in Ankara in 1963, and conducted her practice until the 2000s. Unlike women from the first generation of architects in the country (from the beginning of the Republic until the 1940s), she has been involved in various building typologies throughout her active career in the private and the public sector, such as; resort towns, housing developments, urban planning, individual houses, primary schools, hotel and yatch clubs, public relations buildings within the Turkish Parliament Quarter, etc.

Among the major commissions in her career with Behruz Çinici, and significant works in postwar Turkish modern architecture, is the Middle East Technical University Campus and buildings. Recognized as one of the most prestigious educational and research institutions in the Republic of Turkey, this university was established to create and support a skilled workforce for the development of the country and the surrounding regions of the Middle East, Balkans, etc. in 1956. Following its establishment in Ankara, an architectural design project competition was organized in 1961 and the design proposal by Altuğ Tanrıverdi Çinici-Behruz Çinici won the first award. The overall process of the campus project was divided into various phases, designed from 1961 to 1980 and totaling 500.000 square meters. In the meantime, a reforestation project of the university campus began in 1961 in order to create a green zone next to Ankara. In terms of its architectural program, it included the creation of a main pedestrian axis around the campus, educational-administration-social facilities, water elements, courtyards and semi-open spaces as micro-climate units. Educational facilities were situated on the west side of the campus, while administration buildings, the auditorium, cafeteria and social buildings were designed on the east side. In terms of its architectural design vocabulary, this project remains one of the leading examples of brutalist aesthetics in postwar modernism of Turkey with its building materials, such as exposed concrete and brick, wood, wall and floor coverings in various characteristics, etc.

In the Altuğ Tanrıverdi-Çinici-Behruz Çinici career, architectural articulation of the building program characteristically supersedes the standards of modern and contemporary Turkish architecture. For instance, the planning and investigative process of the one thousand unit Bin Evler Housing Complex includes the geomorphological and climatic surveys of the site, interviews with the members of the cooperative, research on the nature of vernacular architecture, the economy of the region and the social context, etc. It can be seen as an exemplary of other co-operative initiative projects in the in Turkey. In addition, the ensemble of the Public Relations Complex for the members of the Parliament was designed in a modern approach, with motifs and forms from traditional architecture. This modern building, designed as an extension of the original complex of the Parliament by Clemenz Holzmeister, is covered by rough concrete and steel, and uses concrete and marble for the structure in contrast to the old building. On the other hand, arches, courtyards, Persian and Islamic World motifs reflect a traditional language. In this manner, the architects combine modern and historical architecture. In a more recent project, the Mercan and Platin Housing Complex, the architects underline a contemporary design vocabulary through liberated formal approach, programmatic solution, landscape design and communal facilities.

Their published works include essays and monographs on their architecture and its production in the country.